Juneau, Alaska
The City and Boroough of 'Juneau' is the capital city of Alaska. With 32,164 citizens as of 2011, Juneau is the second most populous city in Alaska. Juneau is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg. The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni (Base of the Flounder's River). History In 1911, the United States Congress authorized funds for the building of a capitol building for the Alaska Territory. Because of World War I, construction was delayed, also there were difficulties purchasing the necessary land. Local citizens of Juneau donated some of the required funds, and construction began on September 8, 1929. Construction of the capitol took less than two years, and the building was dedicated as the Federal and Territorial Building on February 14, 1931. The design of the building was drawn up by Treasury Department architects in the Art Deco architectural style. The building was originally used by the federal government in order to house the federal courthouse and post office. Once Alaska gained statehood in 1959, the building has been used by the state government. The Alaska Governor's Mansion was commissioned under the Public Building Act in 1910. The mansion was designed by James Knox Taylor in the old Federal Style. The construction took two years and was completed in 1912. The territorial governor at that time was the first governor to inhabit the mansion, and he held the first open house to the citizens on January 1, 1913. The area of the mansion is 14,400 square feet (1,340 m2). This is where the governor resides when he or she is in Juneau for official business. The mansion contains ten bathrooms, six bedrooms, and eight fireplaces. In June 1923, President Warren G. Harding became the first president to visit Alaska. During his trip, Harding visited the Governor's Mansion while Governor Scott Bone, who was appointed by Harding, was in office. Harding spoke from the porch of the Governor's Mansion explaining his policies and meeting the ordinary people. Robert Atwood, then publisher of the Anchorage Times and an Anchorage 'booster,' was an early leader in capital move efforts—efforts which many in Juneau and Fairbanks resisted. One provision required the new capital to be at least 30 miles (48 km) from Anchorage and Fairbanks, to prevent either city from having undue influence; in the end Juneau remained the capital. In the 1970s, voters passed a plan to move the capital to Willow, a town 70 miles (110 km) north of Anchorage. But pro-Juneau people there and in Fairbanks got voters to also approve a measure (the FRANK Initiative) requiring voter approval of all bondable construction costs before building could begin. Alaskans later voted against spending the estimated $900 million. A 1984 "ultimate" capital-move vote also failed, as did a 1996 vote. Sports Professional sports in Juneau began in 1978 when the Juneau Whalers of the then-named N-USFL began play at Juneau-Douglas High School's football stadium which was nicknamed Whalers Field during games. The team played until becoming a barnstorming team in 1996 and finally folded in 2008. In 2013 the Juneau Eagles were founded and began play at the new ice arena in the North American Hockey League and will be followed up by an arena football and soccer team joining in 2014. Education Juneau is the home of the following institutes of higher education: *University of Alaska Southeast Sister Cities Juneau has 5 official sister cities. *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines Camiling, Philippines *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan Chiayi, Taiwan, Republic of China *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia Vladivostok, Russia *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China Mishan, Heilongjiang, People's Republic of China